Chips of the same block
GENERAL Aslam Baig, in his biography’ Iqtedar ki Majborian’, written by Colonel Ashfaq Hussain has removed the haze on some historic events in the power game. In regards to the ouster of Nawaz Sharif twice from power in October 1999 and July 2017 he says on page 245 of the book “He (Nawaz Sharif) gave an effective response to India by conducting nuclear explosions but ended up in exile for eight years, became prime minister again but eased out of power through a conspiracy.”
The success of the conspiracy paved the way for Imran’s rise to power as a result of allegedly rigged elections. There is now no secret about the fact that the conspiracy was conceived by the Establishment and implemented with the connivance of judges who heard Imran’s petition against Sharif family premised on revelations made in Panama papers. Imran Khan has himself admitted publicly that he was asked by Justice Khosa to bring the case to the Supreme Court.
The Panama case and the Court verdict on it had all the trappings of a conspiracy. First of all the SC which is the final appellate forum chose to act as trial court itself against demands of justice. The formation of the JIT and inclusion of members of intelligence agencies on the basis of Whatsapp message and then to appoint a supervisory judge from the same bench which convicted Nawaz Sharif to monitor proceedings of the references against Sharif family in the accountability courts, provided ample corroborative evidence of manipulative justice.
It was a travesty of justice. The petition was regarding the properties purchased in London by the Shraif family through money laundering. When the JIT failed to come up with credible evidence to authenticate the charges on the basis of which the petition was filed, the court convicted him for not disclosing his employment in the Dubai-based Capital FZE Company owned by his son in his nomination papers in the 2013 general election. The verdict invoked scathing criticism by majority of the constitutional experts.
As against it, in a similar case, Imran Khan was provided relief by his school mate CJ Saqib Nisar by declaring him ‘ sadiq and ameen’ Former CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry commenting on the court decision asserted that the court had given different verdicts in the two similar cases and Imran Khan surely had been provided relief. All the foregoing facts are links in the chain of the conspiracy General Baig has mentioned in his biography.
The Establishment after bringing Imran Khan in power fully backed him during his three and half year power tenure but he failed to come up to its expectations. Economy was in a shambles. His politics of vendetta and sham accountability process which targeted the opposition leaders created conditions for his down-fall. Consequently the PDM was formed with the sole objective of having him removed. As the political duel gained momentum, the establishment having been disillusioned with Imran Khan decided to remain neutral for good. However Imran Khan in spite of his strained relations with the establishment wanted it to thwart the no-confidence move against him. When that help did not come forth, he tried to sabotage it through unconstitutional steps which were declared null and void by the SC.
Imran’s entire politics has been based on false narratives and incessant U-turns. Surprisingly he has been able to resurrect his popularity by selling a false narrative of foreign conspiracy against his government though at the end he himself has retracted from that rhetoric. Thanks to PDM which by having him removed from power provided him the opportunity to remain relevant to the political landscape of the country. In my writings during the PDM movement against him I repeatedly said that the tradition of destabilizing a sitting government must end and the government allowed to complete its mandated period as it was imperative to strengthen democracy and political stability which was vital for economic progress. Had the PDM parties allowed him to complete his tenure he would surely have faded into obscurity due to his failure to bring the promised change in the system of governance and providing desired relief to the masses.
The current political crisis fomented by him is nothing but sheer power politics in which the welfare of the people and good of the state do not matter much. The country is undoubtedly wading through an unprecedented political and economic crises which warrant sanity on the part of all the politicians and finding a solution to it through their collective wisdom. It is only possible when false egos are abandoned and the national interests are given priority over narrow political agendas that are being pursued.
The reality is that all the political leaders are chips of the same block and their sole aim is to clinch political power. However, greater blame for the current situation rests on the shoulders of Imran Khan who has shown perpetual propensity to defy the Constitution and democratic norms. But there is no dearth of pseudo intellectuals who continue to project him as a messiah. One of them who regularly writes for a national English daily in his recent column said that Imran was the only conscientious leader in the country who could winch it out of the quagmire it was stuck into.
How can somebody who has acted as a pawn in implementing a conspiracy, resorted to perpetual lying and hurling unsubstantiated blames on his opponents and duped the people with false promises be called conscientious? Emanuel Swedenborg a Swedish theologian and philosopher said “Conscience is presence of God in man” Can a man with God’s presence in him do dirty things which Imran has been doing? Certainly not! General Bajwa reportedly has said that Imran was a liar and ungrateful person. Imran Khan may be popular for all the wrong reasons but he is not conscientious. His followers and promoters need to scratch their own conscience.
— The writer is former Director General Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, based in Islamabad.
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